GOP strategists’ advice to Christie: Return to governing

The only way for Governor Christie to reverse his stunning freefall is to get back to the business of governing New Jersey while investigations into his administration unfold, said several Republican operatives in key states the governor will need if he launches a national campaign.

Christie used Tuesday’s trip to Chicago to show a roomful of business leaders — and national media in attendance — that he’s not letting the George Washington Bridge controversy slow him down. Instead of the downtrodden and remorseful image of Christie that’s dominated the media in recent weeks, Christie joked, jabbed at Democrats and told the crowd he has work to do. He then, as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, helped raise more than $1 million.

Christie has also returned in his visible role as the state’s top Superstorm Sandy relief manager. It was his leadership during Sandy that made Christie’s poll numbers soar and the governor has planned his first town-hall-style event since winning a landslide reelection last year in a storm-battered town where he will outline the state’s plans for spending the latest round of federal aid.

The event, rescheduled to Tuesday due to the snowstorm, is a chance to remind voters of the Christie brand now under siege: the straight-talking executive who delivers.

“Christie needs to show people ‘I’m still a good leader. I’m a competent leader,’Ÿ” said Craig Robinson, former political director for the Iowa Republican Party who operates a website, The Iowa Republican. “He’s got to do the absolute best job he can in being governor of New Jersey.”

Just three months ago, Christie was riding a 22-point reelection victory and was heralded as the one GOP contender with bipartisan appeal — even beating Hillary Clinton in a virtual matchup for 2016 in some polls among registered voters nationwide.

But now Christie is facing investigations from a special legislative panel and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. His office, his campaign and key staffers have been subpoenaed. He’s fired a former deputy chief of staff and cut ties to his campaign manager — a key aide who had been expected to work with him now as Christie is considered a possible presidential contender in 2016.

Christie, however, still has plenty of time to regain his stature — as long he’s telling the truth, operatives from Iowa to New Hampshire said.

“There’s a long time between now and 2016,” said Tom Rath, a veteran GOP operative based in New Hampshire who advised both of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns.

“The biggest thing he can do is put this behind him,” Rath said. “If there are still question marks in the air, it will be very hard to sustain” a national campaign, Rath said.

His advice to Christie? Even though the governor has key strategists with national campaign experience, Christie needs “another voice in the circle, somebody who is dispassionate,” Rath said. “I’m sure those calls have been made.”

Those experts may already be helping Christie stay on course as a legislative panel is investigating allegations that a four-day traffic jam at the George Washington Bridge was launched by Christie aides to retaliate against the Fort Lee mayor for not endorsing the governor. And federal prosecutors are reviewing whether the administration placed undue pressure on Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer to approve a development.

News of the investigations makes it hard for Christie to talk about pension funding, education reform or just about anything else, but his primary job is to change the conversation.

He must do that to survive, analysts and GOP operatives said.

A poll released last week by CNN/ORC International shows Clinton beating Christie 55 percent to 39 percent among registered voters nationwide in a hypothetical 2016 presidential race — a 16-point drop from the poll conducted in December when Christie led Clinton 48 percent to 46 percent. That same poll shows Christie dropped to third place among Republicans possibly launching runs for the White House.

The scandal threatens his appeal as the GOP front-runner with bipartisan support, someone who can take a sledgehammer to Washington gridlock. A Rutgers-Eagleton poll of New Jersey voters revealed a 19 percent drop in favorability ratings since November, down from 65 percent. The decline was much sharper among Democrats — down 26 percent, according to the poll.

But for now analysts and political operatives say Christie should be focused on his work as governor.

“Push your agenda and be very aggressive,” said Warren Tompkins, a veteran GOP political operative in South Carolina who advised several presidential campaigns. When responding to any news from the investigations, “take personal attacks out of it. He’s a governor, he needs to stay above the fray,” Tompkins said. In other words, leave David Wildstein alone.

“I would minimize any flirtation or anything that would give any sign that there was some short-term presidential ambition,” he added.

That could be a challenge given Christie’s role as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, an opportunity to maintain relations with a rich network of donors and fundraisers.

This week, debate continues over whether Christie should step down. MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said Christie has become a “distraction” to the RGA and should resign.

But Tuesday morning, the RGA, hours before Christie was scheduled to appear in Illinois, announced he had raised $1.5 million in Texas last week and the RGA raised $6 million in January with Christie as chairman — more than twice as much raised in RGA history for the same time period, the organization said.

Defecting could create more problems rather than solve them, some experts say.

“If you give up the RGA, you’re showing voters back home that you’re locked into being governor but it would send a serious message that ‘I’m no longer a serious candidate nationally,’Ÿ” said Dante J. Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire. “Within Republican circles it tells the donor class ‘Yes, there’s more to come I’m hunkering down and you should look elsewhere.’Ÿ” And for now, the elite tier of donors are still backing Christie, several experts said.

“The big givers really like him,” said Larry Sabato, a political science expert at the University of Virginia who has authored more than 20 books.

“They would be the last to slack off. They see Christie as the answer to the GOP’s problems. Because they are committed to him, they are not going to give up this easily,” Sabato said.

“But they recognize him as the guy with a cloud over his head,” Scala said.

But Scala also notes no one is taking up Christie’s space in the GOP. “There’s not necessarily anybody out there that might get the role he would have played in the primary — a center-right or moderate Republican.”

Sabato notes another possible advantage: If the investigations never link Christie to the traffic mayhem or anything illegal in Hoboken, voters may grow weary of the probes and support the governor.

“At some point you have a backlash if there’s no hard evidence being produced,” Sabato said.